


Twice Upon a Time

by fangirlibrarian



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Dark Castle, F/M, Romance, Slow Burn, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-29
Updated: 2015-05-29
Packaged: 2018-04-01 21:02:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4034488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirlibrarian/pseuds/fangirlibrarian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Determined to rewrite her history with Rumpel, Belle finds a way to start all over again. Begins in Skin Deep. How it could have gone if Belle were a little more sure of herself and sure of him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Twice Upon a Time

**Author's Note:**

> This is my favorite trope in other fandoms. It's all over the place in the BTVS fandom, and pops up in HP a fair amount, but I couldn't find a lot of it for Once. (Please link if you know of any great Belle/Rumpel time travel fic!)
> 
> This is just a draft I got down to see what happens with it. There will probably be a chapter(s) before it that frames the time travel device, which I haven't settled yet, and then lots more after. I just wanted to see if there was interest in something like this.

'If only he had come.'

Belle's heart started hammering in her chest. She had been waiting for this moment for the last two years of searching, and now that she was about to see him again she wondered if she was ready. This would be the first time she had seen his face since he threw her out of the Dark Castle. It was an impossible quest, to live the same few months over again and intend a different result. And letting the perceptive imp see straight into her heart from the beginning would certainly not help matters. So she shoved all the hurt and longing deep inside her heart and reached for the character she had chosen for today: confident, curious, wry. A beauty to catch the beast's interest subtly, believably - not through a declaration of undying love pouring through unguarded eyes.

The men were still talking. 'They are unstoppable,' said her father.

Belle fell into the old memory. 'He could be on his way right now, father.' The king's denial was interrupted by a sudden banging at the doors. 'It's him. It has to be him,' Belle insisted, though she did not follow the crowds in the war room to the great door. She kept the throne in the corner of her eye, noting the exact moment the purple smoke began to coalesce around it. She turned to face it just in time to meet Rumpelstiltskin's gaze as he materialized. He smirked at her, large eyes amused and appraising. She lifted her chin and matched his stare evenly. She managed to keep her mouth still but she was sure her eyes gave her away. There was too much joy and fear tumbling around in her not to leak out a bit at the edges.

'Well, at least one of you isn't a total idiot,' came the singsong voice. Belle's blood fizzed. One side of her mouth cocked up in acknowledgement. 

'You sent me a message,' he continued. 'Something about, um, "Help! Help! We're dying! Can you save us?" Now, the answer is - yes, I can. Yes, I can protect your little town. For a price.'

'We sent you a promise of gold,' Maurice began tentatively. The situation was clearly outside of his control and he was feeling progressively more uneasy.

His discomfort seemed to amuse Rumpelstiltskin, who rolled his eyes in reply. 'No. You see, I, um, MAKE, gold. What I want is something a bit more...special.' He paused. His eyes found Belle's again. She managed not to show any of the fluttering she felt beyond a slight widening of her eyes.

'My price,' he finally said, taking a step towards Belle, who exerted significant self-control to resist moving to meet him, 'is her.'

Her father sputtered and Gaston protested, but Belle's eyes never left Rumpelstiltskin's. She remembered him shy and flustered with her, when they were alone in the Dark Castle and he wasn't wearing the mantle of his magic quite so heavily, but this was him too. Cocky, almost predatorily intense, and in total control, this was the side of her Rumpel that was easy to forget when they were sharing a pot of tea in his castle. It had made her uncomfortable before, thinking of him as the Dark One, but these years of seeking and regret have sharpened her heart when it comes to him. What a small, young kind of love she had harbored for him at first, wanting to repair him or bend him to herself. The Belle who made a deal with a monster nearly three years ago had seen nothing attractive in him until long acquaintance taught her to look beyond his rumpled appearance and the persona he chose to show the world. But now, standing not three feet from him and hearing him lay claim to her all over again, Belle feels her whole heart and body respond to him. He is not just beautiful in spite of this, as she had thought at first; he is beautiful here, like this, and it is all she can do not to reach out and touch him. His words sink into her veins like liquor. My price...is her.


End file.
